The 2022 Monster Energy FIM Motocross of Nations will go off at RedBud on September 24-25, marking the fifth time the prestigious race has been held on U.S. soil since 1987. That was the year that Unadilla became the first track in this country to host the event, followed by Budds Creek (’07), Thunder Valley (’10) and RedBud (’18). In anticipation of the big race, we are looking back at some of the most memorable moments in Team USA’s history over the years, and the ’87 event was quite memorable—and quite muddy!
First, Team USA had a dilemma to resolve. The Unadilla promoter Ward Robinson had built a real friendship with both Team USA manager Roger DeCoster as well as Bob “Hurricane” Hannah, as the two had put on some epic battles at the New York track over the years in the old Trans-AMA Series. DeCoster had since retired from racing, and Hannah was getting up there in age by 1987. But he could still go very fast, and many wanted him to race in the first MXON to be held here, especially since Unadilla had long been his favorite track and fans up there adored him. In 1986, Hannah won the Unadilla USGP, after Honda's Johnny O'Mara ran out of gas while leading.
However, the two fastest overall riders in America at the time were the much younger Rick Johnson and Jeff Ward, and DeCoster had picked them as his 250 (RJ) and 500 riders for Team USA. That left the 125, something that Hannah had not raced in years. With DeCoster also being the co-manager at Team Honda at the time, many guessed that he would go with Honda’s two-time AMA 125 National Champion Micky Dymond, especially after Dymond was passed over the previous year in order for Johnny O’Mara to race the 125 in Maggiora, Italy.
But the surprise of many in the industry, DeCoster took the more nostalgic approach and picked the veteran Hannah instead of young Dymond to race his Suzuki RM125 at Unadilla for Team USA. Hannah had shown that he still had race-winning speed earlier in the season when he went 4-1 in the 250 National at Southwick, topping Johnson, Ward and O’Mara in the second moto. And when it came time for the actual MXON in September and a massive rainstorm rolled into the northeast, many were probably relieved that Hannah, a mud-master his entire career, was picked for the team. But even Hannah himself was not thrilled to be on the 125, rather than a 250.
“I wanted to go, Suzuki wanted me to go, and I got picked to go, but nobody was happy about me being in the 125 class,” said Hannah of the controversy. “The pressure was on me to do a good job or people would badmouth me.”
But the mud definitely played in Hannah’s favor as he welcomed the rain. His years of experience in it, and specifically at Unadilla, should have given him a huge advantage. It didn’t show in the first moto, however, as French teenager Jean-Michel Bayle ended up top 125, and Hannah was only fourth. But in the second moto, with the rain continuing and the track falling apart, Hannah put in the last great ride of his career, shocking everyone as the top 125 rider and third overall in the 125/250 moto, behind only Johnson and Belgium’s Eric Geboers, the reigning 250cc World Champion. And with JMB docked a lap for receiving outside assistance, Hannah claimed the 125 class overall win, helping set his teammates Johnson and Ward set up to deliver a popular Team USA victory with first -and third- place finishes in the final 250/500 moto.
Hannah joked afterward, “I was thinking out there, ‘You know, Micky Dymond, you owe me dinner for not being here, because, man, you wouldn’t like this out here.’ I was getting mud thrown in my face!
“Today, I didn’t want to get beat because I’m not here for me,” added the ever-brash Hannah. “There’s three of us here and the pressure was on.”
Weeks after the event, in a cool motocross/mainstream moment, Team USA was invited to the White House to meet with then-U.S. President Ronald Reagan.
While Jeff Ward and Rick Johnson would be on multiple winning teams over the years, this was it for Hannah, his one and only victory in the FIM Motocross of Nations. He would only race professionally a few more times, the ’88 and ’89 Southwick Nationals, and then the ’89 250cc USGP at Unadilla. His last career victory would turn out to be in the 125cc class at the ’87 Motocross of Nations at Unadilla for Team USA.
Watch highlights from 1987 here:
